Schuylkill plans tight security in race-charged slaying trial

Jury selection next week in case of beaten Mexican immigrant.

Schuylkill County Court officials are bracing for protests and planning extra security for the trial of two teenagers accused in last year's fatal beating of an illegal immigrant in Shenandoah.

Jury selection will start Wednesday for the trial of Brandon J. Piekarsky, 18, and Derrick M. Donchak, 19, both of Shenandoah. They and Colin Walsh, 18, also of Shenandoah, are charged in the death of Luis Ramirez, 25, a Mexican who had lived in the borough for six years.

District Attorney James P. Goodman wouldn't say Wednesday why Walsh won't be on trial, but indicated negotiations are under way with him and perhaps other defendants.

"I'm not going to get into details," Goodman said. "When it happens, it happens. Even after this, there's more to it."

He has said a boy who was 17 at the time of the beating and was charged in September as a juvenile won't immediately be adjudicated.

County President Judge William Baldwin, who also has declined to say why Walsh won't be on trial, told the county commissioners Wednesday that any protesters will be kept several blocks from the courthouse and jurors.

The case has generated national interest because, according to police, the July 12 beating was racially motivated. The accused are white, and police say they used racial slurs as they beat Ramirez, who died two days later.

There were protests at the preliminary hearing last year. After attorneys complained they couldn't hear, the protesters were moved and courtroom windows were closed.

Baldwin said other security measures will include a metal detector manned by a deputy sheriff at the courtroom entrance when testimony begins April 27.

Baldwin said cell phones, Blackberries and similar devices will be barred from the courtroom -- with the exception of the media. He said reporters must turn off phones or put them on silent mode and not use them in the courtroom.

Baldwin also said he has barred cameras from the second floor of the courthouse, where the case will be heard. He will permit them in the basement and on the first floor.

Piekarsky is charged with third-degree murder and Donchak with assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault. Both also face ethnic intimidation and other counts.

County court records show that Walsh still faces charges of third-degree murder, aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other charges.